Microsoft is suing Google, its chief rival in the exploding Internet and desktop search market, for hiring away an executive who helped develop Microsofts MSN search technology.
The software company filed the suit last week after Kai-Fu Lee informed Microsoft officials that he was leaving to run a new Google research lab in China. Microsoft contends that Lee signed a noncompete agreement that prevents him from taking a job with a direct competitor such as Google.

Lee helped establish Microsofts research presence in China in the 1990s and, most recently, was a vice president in the companys Natural Interactive Services Division.